Saturday, 18 November 2017

Last night I joined a webinar hosted by Mark Guay with Tim MacDonald on the topic of "How to Build a Life with Impact" one of the topics Tim talked about was the importance of telling your story and

"Letting the world feel your heartbeat."

I've taken quite a few risks and an unconventional approach with trying to re-skill from sales to Community Management, and I can't say that it's felt like my voice and ideas have always been heard.

Given that there have been some fantastic collaborations and interesting events in the last few weeks (as well as some exciting opportunities appearing on the horizon!) I thought it would be a good time to stop and reflect on "My Story"

This time 2 weeks ago I had just finished a Spy Quest Mission to surprise the DigCitSummit organisers who had a Skype call with Westquarter Primary School.

This time last year this event was in Sunny Silicon Valley at
Twitter HQ for the 2nd annual Digital Citizenship Summit.

Two years ago I had my first Skype call with the DigCitSummit organisers and was organising a Thunderclap and reaching out to my contacts trying to create some buzz and managing over 100 volunteers to get the first international #DigCitSummit organised within 2 months on a zero budget.

In 2015 I understand that a Skype call also took place with the Summit Co-Founders and Twitter executives after the Thunderclap went out and they asked, “Who is
William Jenkins?”

I'm someone who's had the same ideas since 2010 and have tried to make them work for 7 years (And counting).

Last night Tim MacDonald told some some stories about living a life of impact, the difference between rational and irrational fear, telling stories and community building. During the session I asked:

What if you feel that you have a story to tell, but no one hears your voice?

The advice given in the reply?

Keep telling it!

I had no digital footprint until UK Head of Education
at Microsoft told me

“Social media comes with the job today”

So I checked it
out and got connected. An invaluable resource with getting social was the #Cmgrhangout that Tim established.

Last night Tim told some fun stories about public speaking and live streaming for the first time and how cringe worthy he felt some early talks were... and how no one likes doing these things to start with. It reminded me of the call I made during this years' DigCitSummit at Mrs Jelland's class (@ElliePrimary1).

I started to blog because he felt so sure that I had a message of value
to deliver that I hit the “Publish” button with a level of anxiety that I’ll
never forget.

The same can be said of the call at Westquarter Primary two weeks ago, I got the chance to tell a story to the audience that I had wanted to for some time now: A Nervous Call with a Connected Educator

I have been trying to find ways to implement these ideas but have all but given up trying to explain some of them. Sure, I’ll start to explain the ideas (Whether in this blog or in meetings) but can either get blank looks
or resistance. I know that look by now so I just stop the conversation just say:

“I’m not gonna tell you, I’ll show
you”

The bizarre thing with this is, if I try to explain the exact same ideas in exactly the same way 12 months later these ideas are not only accepted but are obvious... Go figure?!

I am NOT an early adopter, so have an appreciation about how people with
concerns and apprehension feels.

I should perhaps rephrase that, I am only an
early user if I'm convinced that the tech (AND culture!) have value in order for me to reach out to people in my network.

I am fully aware how busy educators are and how many tools are out there that are underwhelming... and I never take educators time for granted.

Like my first Skype call, my first post was a little garbled
...but I felt I had a story to tell

I felt that the SNP and the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum
came close to achieving this… and Twitter played a huge role with this.

A year
later I connected with the Digital Citizenship Summit organisers after the first event took place. The #DigCitSummitUK
“Pirates” put me forward for the Best New Community Manager CMAD award.

When I had that first call with the event organisers one of my first
statements was:

“I’ll help on one condition… that the event takes place
in Scotland, ideally in Falkirk and preferably at Larbert High School”

The organisers agreed to this (But I think they wondered what all
the fuss was about with the insistence on this location), unfortunately, we had
to move the event so it was closer to BETT.

Earlier in the summer I met SpyQuest author, David
Goutcher and we discussed all things Pokemon Go. In a follow up meeting David
mentioned in passing he was going to the inaugural Falkirk Story Festival and
that he would be visiting some schools before then.

The conversation continued and the end of the second meeting I said “I think I can help,” I think David thought I meant with US educators
because I was working on data for a Pokemon Go follow up.

But I saw the Falkirk event as an opportunity to further
develop what was started a couple of years ago.

I saw what would happen at Falkirk because I’d been
working on the same ideas since Chris van der Kuyls’ 2015 Scottish Learning Festival where
there was a call for educators to collaborate more.

I saw the potential
in this because I’d listened to LI Paper's Community Manager, Kelly Hungerford, and stayed up at 1 am local
time to listen and learn to and learn from educators across the pond

At the third annual #DigCitSummit I tried to finish what was started.
I updated my map of Scottish Schools on Twitter and am also working on a few things that will take place between now and the Skypeathon... These projects should benefit Twitter and Skype.

And why exactly is it that I'm a fan of these tools? Because I heard at the 2011/12 World Ecomonic Forum that

"In times of uncertainty, it's not leaders that are
needed, it's networkers"

As this is where ideas come from (a
message that was delivered at ISTE2013), which educator perhaps didn’t bottle up and
take back home with us… But I did (And I wasn’t even there! #NotAtISTE), but my main tools for networking have been Twitter and Skype. Many of the projects I've worked on would not have been possible without them.

Tim and Mark told the importance of stories that had impact, context and empowered and gave some examples with Tim's posts about "No Kid Hungry."

I have “Stories” in in my Twitter
handle… So I never forget the importance of telling a good story, people didn’t hear this story so I tried again using some really memorable
and appealing characters.

I only read this article recently but I sure can
agree with the top lesson that Oracle’s John Able learnt from all his projects

“Agree the end before the
beginning; this is
one of the biggest lessons I learned. Agree the outcome with the business
community and make sure everyone has a good understanding of the expected
outcome”John Able, 26
years, 300+ projects and 5 key lessons learned

This particular chapter
started with Chris van der Kuyl's keynote at the Scottish Learning Festival and included a Skype call with a connected educator two years ago and two weeks ago.

There were calls for Scottish educators to collaborate more and the aim of the DigCitSummits' on that first call was to encourage students to act locally and connect globally, I hope that I helped with this story too.

I feel that my voice and ideas still struggles to be heard but I'll take Tim's advice and will keep trying to tell it and like many of his videos, webinars and advice his magnets example will stay with me for a long time.

I will be having some interesting conversations about work as a Community Manager early next week, conversations that would not be possible without the advice of Tim, the #Cmgr community and a few others.

I'm so grateful to each and every person that's been part of my story.

“Sometimes it is
the people no one can imagine anything of who do the things no one can
imagine.”Alan Turing. A message I saw
regularly through collaborating with Declara last year.

Please support Tim and his work with #NoKidHungry during #GivingTuesday this year.

My Dad was told by DWP (Don't know who that is... But he doesn't like them very much!)

"That a blog post is not a job search"

On Thursday night I was called upon for a Spy Quest mission and went on a Pirate Adventure with my dad.This is my first Dog post? Oh blog post... But my Dad is helping with it (Like a lot of parents do with their kids homework... He's helping A LOT! You should see some of the homework that people bring in!). As you will see I'm a Spy Guy Pirate Pig now (It's like The Simpson's Spidey Pig except better!) and I wonder if a blog post is the same as a school note to say...

Why I wasn't at school today.

If it isn't good enough for a note then maybe I can use it for my reading passport instead... I got to meet my favourite author and my role model... in a way that REALLY brought the book to life!

Thursday19:30 - Skype Message from Agent JonesIsaac I may need you're help with a mission. Stand by for further instructions.

Friday 08:00 - Do we get ready for school? Do we stay off? Should we phone? If we phone what do we say? Do we tell the truth... we're waiting to go on a Spy Quest mission? Or do we tell a lie? Agent Jones says that we need to be kind... Maybe best to say nothing. We'll send a note on Monday...

"Today we'll turn Pirate"

"COOL"

10:30 - Message from Agent JonesIt's a #Skypeathon Sprint to the Train to make our International ConnectionYour mission should you choose to accept it... meet me at Westquarter Primary School at 13:30.Dad looks at his watch and sees that it's 11:30 and says

"Do we accept? If we do we need to go now!"

11:35 We're Off and Away (Agents: Note the Time Here. This is WHY we synchronize watches. My Dad's a Dumb Nugget!)I'm quite nervous and say no to start with but then

"I Think I Can! I Think I Can! I Think I Can!"

He grabs a bag that he packed, writes down the instructions and we go. On the bus we talk about Sams adventure and try to think like a Spy Kid11:50 Should We Turn Left or Right?We need to go to the library to print a map and some other things. But the library is closed. Must be Oblivion says my Dad.

"Let's just get on the train so we can get to Agent Jones... We're vulnerable until we get there"

11:55 Look Up and Down StreetsThe first entrance to the train station is closed. So is the second.

"Oblivion must know that there is a mission on today, so is closing the city's stations. Let's get on the train before they close all the stations in the city!"

I spot the destination on the board quickly and we jump on the train.Once aboard he wonders how many other agents will make it to see Ron Day Vue? Another agent, maybe? 11:58 You'll Meet Many Strange Birds (A Tweeting ;))My Dad takes things out of his bag and does something he never normally does... he tells me about his world of work. He tells me about some guy that makes EdShelfs (@MikeLeeOrg) and another who build an #EdTechBridge (@Mr_Isaacs) and Stand Bridges (@Stanbridge...Dad says he made ALL the difference for him and helped top up his "Think I Can" powers) He tells me about about some #DigCitSummit Pirates and a box that's been on the shelf for a while but hasn't been taken out the box.

It's a sextrument (Sextant) and it helps pirates and adventurer's like Shackleton to help them if they ever get lost or a bit stuck... and to help them stay the course "By Endurance we Conquer" he says was Shackleton's family motto... and Shackleton liked to play games like I do.“Some people say it is wrong to regard life as a (SpyQuest) game; I don't think so, life to me means the greatest of all (SpyQuest) games. The danger lies in treating it as a trivial (SpyQuest) game, a (SpyQuest) game to be taken lightly, and a (SpyQuest) game in which the rules don't matter much.

The rules matter a great deal. The game has to be played fairly, or it is no game at all. And even to win the (SpyQuest) game is not the chief end. The chief end is to win it honourably and splendidly. To this chief end several things are necessary. Loyalty is one. Discipline is another. Unselfishness is another. Courage is another. Optimism is another. And chivalry is another.” Earnest Shackleton... But with some (SpyQuest) subliminal messages in there. Did you spot them? Lol ;)He also tells me about a boy I'm going to meet. His name is Curran and his mum has been training him to be a SpyQuest Agent too.

It was him that wrote to Santa to tell him we didn't have much money but knew I wanted a tablet even though my mum said no, so didn't put it on the list. THANK YOU Curran!

Agent Curran is going to ask the class if their teddy Ellie can go on a SpyQuest Digital Citizenship Mission and I've to get her and take her back with me and Agent Jones.Then for the rest of the journey Dad does what he was asked for the mission, writes a note for Mrs Jelland...while I use my observation skills to look out for the right stop, we're going to Poland!... Or was it Polmont?12:20 The Waiting Place (Did I Tell you my Dad's a Dumb Nugget?)We arrive at the school and go to reception. A friendly boy says hello and asks what we are doing there I look at my Dad and say

The boy is friendly. My dad takes two Spy Quest books out his bag and says would you like to borrow these. He looks at them and says

"Yes please!"

I hope he becomes an agent too.Dad's a Dumb Nugget... Epic Fail!The lady at the schools says

"Do you know your an hour early?"

My Dad looks at hid watch and says

"Oh I forgot to turn my watch back...last week. I just looked at my watch and we rushed out"

He says that's just like the film I was in with Obi Wan (for a second or two)... But I've not seen the film yet yet.

"We'll come back in 30 mins, but could we use a computer when we get back"

We were told ONLY to use Mrs Jelland's computer because it had been checked for Oblivion's spy gadgets.

12:30 It's Better Out there in the Wide Open AirWe have the best play in the grass kicking leaves about and having sword fights. No one would ever know that we were SpyQuest Agents on a mission to recruit more agents!

"See kids really DO make the best Spy Guys, who'd have thought we were on a mission at this very second? We're just having a laugh in the leaves"

Says Dad

"We're taking a leave of absence"

He says with a laugh.I don't get what's funny. My Dad's a Dumb Nugget!13:00 In a Slump... By the Computer. Working. Again!We go back to the school and my Dad types something on the friendly teachers computer. He takes the sextrument out of his bag and says

"Why don't you try to figure this out while I write this note"

Dad prints the story off and gives it to Mrs Jelland and say's this is what I'm going to say, Mrs Jelland must have liked it because after she read it she said she was going to get an iPad to record it... Or maybe it was so lame that she thought it would go viral (That's more like it! Did I mention my Dad's a Dumb Nugget?)13:30 Oh The Places You'll Go!Dad goes out because the class is going to say hello and sing a song then surprise her. I stay with Mrs Jelland's class.We sing I would Skype 500 Miles. Then my Dad comes in.The people on Skype get a big surprise when she sees it's my Dad, but he looks quite nervous. He tells a story that we hear a lot of nights at bed time (But not all because sometimes he forgets because he's working... Maybe that's Oblivion again though using Lycortas or something?), he tells usThat words are the most powerful things in the world,Books are the most powerful weaponsThat we can do anything we set our mind to... But only if we prepare and always do our bestHe talks about "Oh the Places You'll Go" and "The Little Engine that Could" and how Agent Jones thinks kids make the best Spy Guys (And Girls!)

When he asked

"Have you heard of a book called "Oh The Place's You'll Go"

Some children said they had not but Mrs Jelland said that the read it in the morning. Oblivion was definitely in the room... Maybe that's why Ellie wasn't... maybe they got there just before us?!

The rest of what he says can be seen here: A Nervous Call with a Connected EducatorThen he calls me over to say hello and I show Curran the Sextrument (Sextant) and what I have learnt about it so far... But here's the thing, my Dad was so relieved to be finished his talk that he didn't realise I was talking until he saw Mrs Jelland's Sweets? Oh, not sweets... tweets.My Dad would have missed this if it wasn't for Twitter, Skype an ipad... and

"A Teacher That Can!"

AND he was in the room!

How much is he missing from my day when he's not? How much of a connection was made with Mrs Jelland's class and with Utah on this one day, than all the others at my own school?

Then Curran and I asked if we could take Ellie on a DigCit SpyQuest Mission, then Agent Jones took over telling the boys and girls in Westquarter and Utah about his books and how he brings them to life.He did when I first read the books, he did when Curran read them and he did with Mrs Jelland's class who have not read them yet.NB Mrs Jelland did video the Skype call but, I don't know if it was because

Agent Jones jammed all transmissions so Oblivion couldn't hear, or

My Dad was so nervous that she didn't want other teachers to be put off skyping people or

Oblivion hacked her ipad and deleted it.

But the video is gone. But it's OK because Agent Jones ALWAY, ALWAYS plans for the best but prepares for the worse... and has a Mission for SQAs newest Agent Teacher (with the help of an Agent Fox? I've not met him yet... But I hears he's very cunning, but extremely kind!) to retrieve the information and pass it on to others... and, do you know what? I think she can! And I think she will!

14:00 Mission complete! Westquarter P1 Kid's We Moved Mountains Today!We have our manners and thank everyone for allowing us to be creative and disrupt their class and Agent Jones says that he'll visit again. I hope he takes me... and I hope Agent Ellie comes to my School too.

Agent Jones takes us home and he tells me how important the work my Dad does is for SpyQuest.The message that we gave to the people at the DigCitSummit and our newest recruit, Agent Ellie, is below and because I had good fun I think that other classes should try it. Does your school agree?Dear Mr Swinney,

We need, as educators and parents, to modelDigital Leaders for kids everywhereTo connect classrooms on Twitter and Skypewith educators and policy makers withschools locally but we need to learnand globally kids at Westquarter and at Utah todayHelp Ellie

Be a kind kid, be the change you want to see... For the sake of the Kids we are Better Together (#BetterTogether in the New Teachers to Twitter #NT2T kind of way, not the other one).

Mr Swinney, if you mean it when you say that you want to empower educators... I think my Dad can help.Agent Jones needed me for a SpyQuest Mission. We acted locally and travelled 25 miles... to connect globally 5,000 more. People at the DigCitSummit needed us and I wanted to be a kind kid... and that is why I was not at school today.

Pst Kids, I have included a secret message for you in the message to the grown ups. If you want Ellie to come to your school and Skype with my new friends at Westquarter, Curran and Agent Jones.

Tell you're teacher or your parents to Tweet

"@SpyQuest I want to help @ElliePrimary1"

A be a kind kid agent will hear you. Maybe it will be a Pigeon, or a Fox, or a Mole... It might even be a Lion Hearted Griffin that ends up at your door...Griffin Door? Where have I heard that before? Must be SQA mind tricks playing with my head!Anyway we will hear your Tweet and someone will take it from there and give you your @SpyQuest Mission.

It might be a little kid with a big heart or a grown up with a child-like mind

...You never can tell who is, and who is not, an Agent of SQA.

I think that Agent Jones must have an SQA Agent at TES Scotland too because my Dad's name was in that on Friday... so was Mrs Jelland... and so was the Bloodhound Car that @Stanbridge works on.

I wonder where my Dad will take me next time I turn Pirate and go with him to his "work"

I hope it's another awfully big adventure... I wonder what I missed in my class today? I hope we can compare notes with Westquarter Primary soon

(Pst To my fellow Agents in the field (Oink Oink...Nudge, Nudge, Wink, Wink): I have the cipher... The code phrase is "I want to Help Ellie" if you want to join the SQA)

Friday, 3 November 2017

As you may know we have had a fantastic experience with
SpyQuest as a user and as someone involved in Education. Today myself and my
son accompanied Agent Jones to recruit Ellie the Elephant at Westquarter
Primary school.

Agent Jones was supposed to join the Skype call when the
kids finished singing “I would walk 500 miles”… Instead, just before the
mission went live he told me I would be doing a training exercise first.

I had make some notes en route and then borrowed Ms Jelland’s
computer to type it up. Just as well we were an hour early… who bothers with
daylight savings time when you’re out of work. Right?

Glad Agent Isaac is able to get work unlike his Dad, *Sigh*
LOL! About the clocks today though!

I'm an out of work #EdTech #Cmgr in Scotland because there are no jobs... get me out of here! Ideally CA.

I will add to this post over the weekend to include what happen before and after
the call but here’s and EdTech Story that includes

A Nervous Skype Call
with A Connected Educator

Mr Swinney, Mr Russell, Ms Fabiani,

We need, as educators and parents, to model
Digital Leaders for kids everywhere
To connect classrooms on Twitter and Skype
with educators and policy makers with
schools locally but we need to learn
and globally kids at Westquarter and at Utah today
Help Ellie

Be a kind kid, be change you want to see… Build
the #EdTechBridge because we are #BetterTogether

I would like to talk to you today about my world of work and
my work as a parent.

We tell our kids that they can do anything they set their
mind to, that their words are the most powerful things in the world, and that
books are the most powerful weapons… They can only do anything they set their
mind to IF they prepare and do their best.

You have the ability to change the world…
you really do. With an Idea

We don’t just tell them these things, we try to show them! For example, I wanted to work with innovative tech
companies.

Has anyone here heard of Microsoft? What about Apple? Oracle?

Oracle is a tricky one because they make tech you can’t see…
It’s a company for dreamers who have their head in the clouds. But their
products are in so many things that we use.

Who would like to work at Microsoft making Xbox games or
work on a car that goes 1,000 miles an hour? That’s faster than a bullet… I’m
not sure if that’s faster than Superman or the Flash

It was a Microsoft
executive that told me to get on Twitter and other social media channels in 2010 because

It comes with the job today if you want to
be in EdTech

I was nervous delivering those first messages online,
putting myself out there… but who is it today who is telling educators that

It comes with the job today if you want to
be an educator AND develop the young workforce

My CV had sat on Microsoft’s servers for 6 years unnoticed.
Last year I got the following message after assisting with the Skypeathon

"William if
you ever do take a break from connecting the world, we would love to have a
conversation on the MIEE program in Scotland... your passion, committment and
skills are admirable"

The person I met said “You’re a lot different in real life
than your online presence.”

I “Lack presence” in face to face meetings and I get
anxious... before I put myself out there online and publishing my words for the
world to see this was a HUGE problem as my first impression would be bad.

People get to know me in my preferred medium before we meet now… and that can make
all the difference!

There are no jobs in Scotland for what I want to do, so I got
work with someone who some commentators were calling “The Google of Education” but
communicating remotely was causing problems because I wasn’t shown how to do
this effectively.

Have you heard of a book called “Oh The Places You’ll Go?”
Or what about “The Little Engine That Could?” and

I Think I Can!... I Think I Can!... I Think
I Can!

I was saying this all the way here today and I’m saying it
in my head right now too!

Another great author is Jane Jacobs who said

“I place a great deal of faith
in our young people, they don’t have as much trouble accepting new ideas”

I agree with her, my friend, Agent Jones believes this too…
he thinks that kids make the best Spy Guys.

When on Spy Quest missions will you be flying high? You Sure
WILL!!

Will you get separated from the other agents and be alone in
tricky situations? Will you fall off the Eiffel tower and land with an
unpleasant bump? I sure hope NOT!!

But you might get left in the lurch or need to sit in the
waiting place for a while.

Dr Seuss was an introvert and never met his young readers because
he didn’t want to disappoint his young fans.

In Susan Cain’s book Quiet, she discussed how Steve Wozniak
worked:

"Most
inventors and enginners I've met are like me - they're shy and they live in
their heads. They're almost like artists. In fact the best of them are artists.
And artists work best alone where they can control an inventions design without
a lot of other people designing it for marketing or some other committee. I
don't believe anything really revolutionary has been invented by committee. If
you're that rare engineer who's an inventor and also an artist, I'm going to
give you some advice that might be hard to take. That advice is : Work
alone.You're going to be best able to design revolutionary products and
features if you're working on your own. Not on a committee. Not on a team."

You guys don’t have this problem today because my son’s
favourite author, who is a Spy Guy, LOVES meeting his young readers, and politely
asked if he’d come here today to talk about a special #DigCit mission he’s
working on.

Until we got the mission brief at at
10:30am today, Isaac did not know much of the story over the last few years… He
does now. He knows that you have been training Agent Curran… I hope both our
boys work together.

Calling Isaac over, I hope you are always a kind kid!

I have a challenge for you too. Who makes
the best kind of #DigCit SpyQuest stories… Introverts? Or extrverts? Let’s
develop the #EdTechBridge because we are #BetterTogether

Do
you like Classroom Skype and webcams?I do
not like them, because Spy-I-am.I do
not like Classroom Skype and Webcams.Would
you like to Skype from here or there?I
would not like them here or there.I
would not like them anywhere.I do
not like Classroom Skype and Webcams.I do
not like them, because covert agent I am.Would
you like it in your house?Would
you then click on the mouse?I
might Skype from the house.Am I
the only one who still uses a mouse?I do
not like being here on this day.I
wonder if I might like it someday.I do
not like Classroom Skype and webcams.I do
not like them, but when the #Bethatkindkid #DigCit Spy Quest mission is live,
I guess am a fan!!